Several types of protective elements, often designated by the term "Bonbout"(trademark), are already known in the field. These elements are commonly intended mainly to give the heel a nonskid feature, and to substitute direct wear of the heel, caused during walking, with wear of this element which can be easily replaced. The most known type consists of a simple piece of synthetic plastic resistant to wear and to suitable deformation, which is fastened to the end of the heel of a shoe with a simple shoemaker's nail which goes through it and which is driven into said end. To prevent the nail head from striking the ground when walking, it is known to provide in the piece a suitable reinforcement intended to receive said head, so that it cannot come in contact with the ground. However, as soon as a certain wear of the element occurs, it can be seen that the nail head becomes flush with its lower surface thus disadvantageously to damage the floor and/or cause excessive noise.
To reduce this drawback, it has been provided to bury the nail head inside the protective element. This solution, however, results in another disadvantage. Actually, because of the inherent flexibility of the material of the element, it is understood that fastening it to the end of the heel with a hammer does not result in the desired perfectly rigid assembly that is, and frequently this type of element has to be replaced long before its degree of wear makes it necessary, for example because of a premature separation of the assembly due to a misstep, an accidental impact, etc.
Finally, it is often found particularly with narrow heels (spike heels or others), that the protective element, after a certain time of use, can freely turn in relation to the heel, which is certainly disadvantageous both from the viewpoint of the stability of the shoe and the esthetic viewpoint. The solution to this problem consisting in fastening the element with a plurality of nails is not always possible, in particular because of the above-mentioned narrowness of the heel.
Moreover, a known drawback of all the known elements so far resides in the fact that their centering at the end of the heel is often delicate and imprecise.